Woodlands, Gravelly Shores, and Wild Holms Rich in Avifauna at the Shadow of Verrua Fortress

Covering a surface area of 1,568 hectares, Confluenza della Dora Baltea Special Nature Reserve (also called Baraccone Nature Reserve, from the name of a nearby farmstead), is one of the largest, wildest, richest, and most interesting areas of the Po Plain, both for fauna and vegetation. As a matter of fact, the several riparian vegetable species - herbaceous, shrubby, and arboreal - both spontaneous and introduced with reforestation activities, favor the presence of nesting and migratory birds. Most of the protected area is still today private property. Before the establishment law of River Po Park became effective (1990), the area was used as a hunting reserve. Today, thanks to the hunting prohibition, animals can find in the reserve food and shelter. Also favored by the presence of only a few farmsteads in the Reserve, there is an ongoing renaturalization program that will gradually lead to the conversion of the existing corn fields and poplar groves into woodlands. The area of the confluence of Dora Baltea is large and charming also for its landscape: in case of flood, the waters invade a network of oxbows which are among the most beautiful and most populated with birds and fish along the whole stretch of river Po in Piedmont. Characteristic of this area and interesting also from the bio-wildlife point of view is the meeting of the icy waters of Dora Baltea with the mild waters of river Po, which run parallel without touching for a few hundred meters. Baraccone Reserve develops entirely in the plain, in the provinces of Turin and Vercelli, but lies not far from the Monferrato hills and is characterized by the historical presence of Verrua Fortress.Confluenza della Dora Baltea (or Baraccone) Special Nature Reserve is safeguarded not only by the establishment law of River Po Park, but also according to the regional law no. 47 of 3rd April 1995 "Norme per la tutela dei biotopi", the Decision 85/338/CEE of 27th June 1985, and the Directive 92/43/CEE of 21st May 1992, since it has been considered as "ecological entity of great interest for the conservation of nature" and therefore subject to the environmental-landscape regulations according to law 8th August 1985, no. 431 and the European regulations, recognizing it as SCI – Site of Community Importance (code IT1110019). Confluenza della Dora Baltea nel Po is also a Site of Community Importance (SCI Baraccone - Confluenza Po-Dora Baltea) and a Specia Protection Area (SPA Baraccone Confluenza Po-Dora Baltea).